Kodomo Namida
by TurtleNoise
Summary: Namida is a prodigy. She is ten when she graduates the academy, by eleven promoted to chuunin, and fourteen on the cusp of jounin testing. But when she was nine, she learned how to start plotting. "Until I take back what's mine... You know war, Itachi-san. Teach me war." Warning for later chapters: Sexism, spoilers, past child abuse/molestation, sexually explicit, cursing
1. The End

Warning for later chapters: Sexism, spoilers, past child abuse/molestation, sexually explicit, cursing

A story about my OCs and their tales throughout the Naruto world and series. Largely stays in canon, just following events

 **Summary: The _nindo_ life is hard, tragic, and unfair. Men are perverts and Namida lives in the real world. She ****is only a year older than the rookies of Konoha but Naruto feels she is eons more mature and intelligent. He knows those eyes, that look, that pain.**

 **At the age of nine, Namida is taken to Konoha to meet her betrothed, and the Kodomo assassination takes her mother and grandmother. That is when her father issues her death sentence and her brother betrays her to steal her inheritance. But Namida is a prodigy. She is ten when she graduates the academy, by eleven promoted to chuunin, and fourteen on the cusp of jounin testing. But when she was nine, she learned how to start plotting.**

* * *

Chapter One: The End

The bride of Kodomo Jomei was of a family not especially well known for their _ninjutsu_ , but the Hirose did have wealth and honor, respect and history, and a pragmatic knowledge of military prowess passed down from one generation to the next. Kodomo Yuki née Hirose was no _kunoichi_ , but she had experienced her fair share of war, sabotage, execution, and legislation in her relatively short form of life. She was a strict, strong woman who had a practical understanding of the world around her and its politics. Yuki only became colder in the wake of her marriage to the then dubbed "Ice Prince." She gave Jomei two children – Namida and Junichi.

At the gates of Konoha, the _Sandaime Koorikage_ Kodomo Akahana arrived with her young grandchildren, her daughter by law, her guard, and the rest of their robust company. The _Sandaime Hokage_ Sarutobi Hiruzen was there to greet them. There wasn't much fanfare, as was Akahana's preference, once the main carriage had opened and Sarutobi offered his arm. Akahana didn't particularly need it, but she did hunch more than he did in their ripe age (more of an act, he was sure) and she enjoyed some practices of courtesy on occasion. Sarutobi was one among few who'd earned that respect.

It had been a grossly long period of time since they last met, and they had much to catch up on. After commenting on how aged he had become since their last reunion, a jibe that elicited an earnest chuckle from Hiruzen, Akahana immediately addressed her next concern – her granddaughter Namida was only nine and prone to illness. The trek from Yamagakure was long and hard on civilians and students alike, and the girl had developed a fever down the heavy mountains.

"She must need rest."

Their men knew what they were doing, and the two Kages trusted them to reign the horses in, clear out of the way, and attend to the tired children. Junichi crossly had to stay behind with his sister, relocating Akahana's responsibility to an equally irritable yet frigidly polite Yuki and the rest of their dutiful servants. The two old friends traveled a peaceful and solitary path up the Hokage Monument in no time. And old they were, their age beginning to creep into the wizened lines around their eyes and mouths. But they were ninja still.

"Her mother was adamantly against allowing her to come," Akahana complained.

"It's a dangerous passage."

"The girl can't be sheltered in the snow and ice forever. Her brother already takes after their mother, cold and sullen. And their father, eager to be a brutish and foolhardy warrior. Nami-chan needs to see the world around her."

They had reached the top and Akahana looked down at the industrious, homely village fanning so far out in every direction. She could clearly make out the army of lanterns being lit upon the arrival of twilight. The road to Konoha had truly taken longer than they had intended. It left Akahana feeling particularly drained and weary, more than she'd care to admit. Whether the celebrations were prepared out of the excitement for her queenly visit, coincidence, or an everyday ritual, Akahana could not care to remember. But she breathed in deeply and allowed herself to relax. It felt as if she had not done so in years, but she could trust Sarutobi, as she had in the past with her life.

"My granddaughter needs a husband… While there are many years to come before that, she needs to be _betrothed_ _soon."_

"You know… the Uchiha won't agree." Akahana turned toward him with a preemptively raised eyebrow, patiently waiting for further explanation. "They know the Kodomo custom. As a matriarchy, in any marriage, their son would live with you in Yama. They'd be insulted by the suggestion that their children would have the Kodomo name."

"I don't know if it would be a _suggestion._ And the only opinion that _really_ matters is that of young Fugaku, isn't it? Unless the poor boy has been simply overrun by the opinions of those he officiates?"

Sarutobi frowned over the village pensively before finally looking back to Kodomo. "It is in every head's interest to listen to the voices of his family, for they are the ones to whom he answers and is ultimately responsible. One cannot rule without careful attention to the views of those over which he manages."

Kodomo, as always, did not miss a beat. "One cannot rule without considering their needs, either, even if they cannot see it so clearly. You are right, of course, but it is also a leader's responsibility to decide what is best for his or her family, for the greater population and lesser men are – more often than not – blinded by fear, prejudice, and the mentality of the mob."

"They would not give up their heir, regardless of your jewels and wealth. Even the idea of longstanding truce is lost on them. What could you possibly offer? I think you'd be better off arranging your granddaughter a marriage with the younger son."

"Unless someone can point out the… advantages to naming young Sasuke-kun the Uchiha heir, should Itachi relinquish his claim to live a comfortable life in Yama… as our future Prince."

"Prince is only a name given to Kodomo trophy husbands."

"Well, obviously the Koorikage name belongs to Nami-chan only, and rightfully." Yamagakure did have an awfully antiquated system of _inheritance_ rather than _merit_ for their leader. Others outside the family were still welcome to challenge for the title, though not many dared for fear that the combat would become sudden death or, even worse, the dishonor and social pariahdom upon defeat and survival. That was the price for contesting the _true_ Koorikage, so they said. The success rate of those who _did_ partake was nonexistent. Within the family, there were no rivals to the main branch heir out of respect. And what's more, being such a small country, even the civilian lords and ladies in all of _Yuki no Kuni_ answered to the Koorikage, making it more of a kingdom than a military force. "But what will he be here? Head of the ineffectual Military Police? He has too much talent to waste on that, I've heard. Give that title to Sasuke-kun. Itachi-kun could have influence over Yama and its forces. Real power."

"Limited power. I've heard of how much luck your daughter by law has had in that department, and so have the Uchiha."

"Power can be found with limited agency. It is what you make of it. My son's wife was no Uchiha. She was a Hirose. And so long as Itachi-kun's loyalty is to his wife, there should be no problem with his power." Akahana was never fond of her daughter-in-law. "The delicate sensibilities and strict manners of Yuki-chan are tedious. She is a highborn lady. Not a soldier or a fighter. She does not understand the shinobi way." It was true that Yuki could comprehend the game and how to play it, but she had to work with what she had, which wasn't much. Akahana saw to that, for she did not trust the family she came from, nor had she ever trusted Yuki's personal intentions. But Akahana had reliable sources, and the young prodigy Itachi was well known for being a clever and carefully compassionate boy. His old soul could be worthy of her granddaughter's longstanding and hard-won affection, partnership, and attention. "Worse yet, she prattles on and _on_ about how Namida must be proper, and how she must sew and study."

"Namida _is_ smart. And sickly."

"Namida is intelligent, and _sly_. She's a little fighter, that one. You can't keep that child off the mats."

" _Taijutsu,_ really? She is awfully slight."

"So is Jun-chan, but I see no one fussing over him. And, unlike him, she can compartmentalize difficult information beyond her years. She has honed great skills preparing herself against opponents larger than her."

"I imagine she has a lot of practice."

* * *

Itachi wasn't sure what to make of the Kodomo. He was thirteen and understood what was happening better than Sasuke, at eight. The girl… He knew one of them was meant to marry her. He just wasn't sure which one of them it would be. He didn't even think that was something his parents knew, not yet. It seemed his mother and father had not come to a decision, but now the arrival of the Kodomo was upon them.

It would be inane to refuse offering at least _one_ of their sons for a matrimony of that caliber. It had been an idea worth playing around with for years, but the day of reckoning had come far sooner than anyone could have anticipated. Even now, he keenly caught the curious whispers of family members and common villagers alike. But the only whispers Itachi really engaged with seriousness were that of his parents, late at night and in secret. Itachi found it to be the most reliable source of information – straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

At first, years ago, he thought it would obviously be him. There didn't seem to be any question about it, in his young mind. A match between a male heir and a true-born daughter simply made the most sense. As he grew, he learned that not only was Namida _older_ than her twin brother, but that the Kodomo were a firm matriarchy, and what that meant. This girl was as true an heir in her own family as he was among his. That made matters into a more complicated state of affairs.

Certainly, she could not abandon the succession to live with him any more than he could for her. So, she could marry Sasuke-kun. Clans sent off second and third sons off all the time for alliances' sake. It was not unusual. His information gathered somewhat recently how the Koorikage wanted her heir to take up residence in Konoha for the duration of the engagement, until the marriage some years in the future. Itachi considered the motives behind that rather odd line of reasoning, and didn't quite believe some speculations he'd overheard wishing Namida a well-rounded understanding of her betrothed's culture and lifestyle. It never seemed to matter before. Surely, her formative years were better spent in her own home village, being tutored and prepped for her future roll.

He wasn't sure he liked the idea of Sasuke moving up to the cold mountains, so far a distance that it took nearly a week to travel at shinobi speed, any more than he enjoyed the idea of going there himself. This was his village. This was their home. It wasn't fair, but he might've put it all aside for the sake of duty.

Had he not known it was going to be pointless in a few month's time anyway.

Shisui was already dead, after all, and there was no stopping the horrific plan now.

Little did he know that there was another plot working toward fruition at a greater velocity, aimed to be executed that very night.

But now, the festival was in full swing, and he was dressed in a black and red yukata finished earlier that day by his mother. When he spotted Namida, her clothing was blue and silver of a professional quality. He had heard of Kodomo Yuki's seamstress skills and marveled at a firsthand account, for so long and so often picking up on the envious chatter of village civilians who made it their life's work, something Yuki-san apparently undertook as a hobby.

Namida's hair was silver, and so long that Itachi didn't think she'd cut it in all her life. He was surprised that, instead of being pinned up in some sort of intricate knot or style or braid, it hung free and wild down her back. She also had her family's silver eyes, and her family's crescent-shaped sigil on her back, mirroring his own crest that weighed heavily, screaming, between his shoulder blades.

He was more interested to see their kekkei genkai. Itachi had never seen this Aisugan of the Kodomo personally, and he was always curious. He heard it activated slowly, but it looked just like ice – the bright and frozen blue of a glacial lake – which covered both the iris and the pupil. It was said to reflect all manner of light no matter the lighting. An inner luminescence like a winter fire.

Itachi was excited and thought that it couldn't hurt to active his early Sharingan to see if her bloodline… reacted. If it had been a fast activation, he couldn't have done such a thing (it could have reacted badly, seen as a threat, and would have been outright rude if he was caught). But this girl couldn't have been much. Indeed, there was no instant response. There was no response at all. He kept eye contact just a little longer, holding out for a small hint that _it_ was starting, before he gave up and deactivated his eyes. All the while, Namida just stared at him, perhaps waiting.

"Uchiha Itachi."

"Kodomo Namida?" He didn't know why he bothered phrasing it like a question. Clearly, the young girl could see right through him.

"I heard you're sick. Like me." He frowned, taken aback. "From rumors," she explained bluntly. There was a sound somewhere between a squeak and gasp made by the handmaiden at her elbow, who had short red hair and freckles uncommon to Yama. But her pale complexion certainly proved her residency. She grabbed Namida's arm as if that would pull back her words or, at the very least, warn her against speaking so candidly again. Itachi watched the transaction, noting how aggressively familiar the touch was, something that would not have been tolerated normally had they not been… friends, he supposed.

"Nami-chan," she chastised, the informal way Namida was addressed only confirming Itachi's original assessment, "that was rude." So, they were probably good friends, then.

"It will go away," he defended coolly, ignoring the common girl. "It always does."

Namida ignored her, too. Not unkindly, just dismissively and blasé. She was used to getting scolded, Itachi was willing to bet, from peers and adults alike. She maintained an eerily sharp focus on Itachi, and it was then he knew that she knew the _big secret_. She was testing his waters, as her potential future matrimony. "We both know that's a lie our parents tell us and each other."

He stared back at her. Her skin was gaunt, already flushed a bit at her drawn-in cheek bones from the Land of Fire's heat. And under her eyes hung a tinge of shadows – pink, slightly swollen, and pinched … Not like she'd been crying, but like she was naturally poor in health. Despite that, she was very pretty, as he'd heard all Kodomo were.

Sasuke picked an opportune (unfortunate, for him) moment to wonder by the trio. Itachi plucked him up and set his brother down between him and the girls, an active human shield. Sasuke wasn't much younger than Namida, but Itachi could already tell he was leagues more naïve and obviously shorter, something that made him pout.

" _Outoto_ , this is Kodomo Namida-hime. Be nice to her.

 _She may one day be_ your _bride._

* * *

Itachi's parents discussed what to do with Kodomo Namida more openly after what happened that night. The girl had nothing else now other than a handful of staff that had survived and whatever grace Konoha gave her. After the ceremonies commenced and were close to conclusion, a secret party assassinated the Koorikage and her daughter-in-law, along with over half their company. Namida would have been dead, too, had it not been for Itachi. A large portion of the rest fled like bats out of hell. And everyone knew exactly who was behind it.

The son of Akahana, Jomei, had seized power. He became the first male Koorikage since its beginning. Normally, in the case that the Koorikage was survived by no daughters, as Akahana had no surviving daughters, it would be passed to her eldest son's eldest daughter. And should she not be of age, her father – or even her mother – could act as interim. But Jomei proclaimed himself Koorikage and, with one true born daughter still living and now a bastard daughter as well, named his escaped son Junichi his only heir.

Most of their company returned home, pleading amnesty. Even the loyalists either assimilated or absconded indefinitely. It left three abandoned children who were picked up under the protection of Konoha, which included Namida herself, her handmaiden, and a young Nakamura heir who was not welcomed back after his uncles had selfishly decided to seize the opportunity (perhaps in cohorts with Jomei from the get go) to take hold of their clan's leadership.

Jomei demanded Konoha's return of his true born daughter, who had survived the night. But it was not something that Sarutobi, as the late Kodomo's friend, would have ever allowed.

"If you don't appease him, he will make you regret it," Namida had told him when he had told her, only after she had persistently and tiresomely demanded answers. It was only fair she knew, despite her young age.

Sarutobi had sighed. "It would only be to your death."

Namida had stared at him with a pearly new scar, a deadened look on her face. "Perhaps that would be for the best."

It had only strained the tension between the Hokage and the Uchiha, who called for the Hokage to give in to Jomei's demands, if only for their own interests. They did not want war with Yama (only civil war). And they reasoned it was not clear _what_ would become of Namida if they sent her back. Kodomo weren't savages. Would they really kill a main branch family member with the potential for their bloodline limit? Or would they let her live the life of a second born child and a lady of their household, to be used as a soldier or a breeder?

But if Sarutobi was intent on keeping her under his protection, the Uchiha could still make the most out of the unforeseen turn of events, as they were wont to do. Fugaku discussed it at the dinner table now, openly with his wife and in the presence of their children and other uncles or cousins. Itachi could marry her now without stipulations. Even though she may have possessed little-to-nothing to her name and the Uchiha would benefit no titles or trade profit out of it, it would be in aligning the bloodlines and combining the Aisugan with the Sharingan that they might make their fortune. Even if Namida never received it, it could be laying in wait as a dormant, recessive gene for their future children.

Producing hybrid offspring had been done before, with mixed results. Sometimes, the children would simply succeed to either/or. But whether they inherited the eyes of their mother or father, the bloodline would be incredibly strong. Some never received the power at all. Others went blind, snapping under the intense pressure of overloading power.

Itachi would never want his children blind. He could never risk it.

"The old fool is still trying to hold the peace," Itachi's eldest uncle barked. "The Kodomo have waged war for less than a little girl." Itachi bit his tongue, use to letting the insults wash over him. Itachi grew up listening to one thing and thinking the other. It wouldn't help him to fight and be marked as some sympathizer, no matter how pure his logic was or how educationally he had the capacity to express his ideals. It would fall on deaf ears. Instead he listened, and soon he would have to listen to it no more.

Itachi was still wrestling with the thought of what was asked (ordered) of him, trying to comprehend it all. Was it all truly right? Was there no other way? Or was Danzo and the Council manipulating him for their agenda?

Itachi was too far gone. He was in too deep.

"While that girl lives, Jomei's reign is in question," Fugaku agreed, glancing at his eldest. Itachi couldn't tell what he was thinking. Was Fugaku pleased his son had saved the girl? Or annoyed? Did he even care? Part of Itachi thought his father intrinsically knew that his time was coming, now. And even if he remained willfully unaware, Fugaku had the practical mindset of accepting what was done was done, and there was no need for hindsight or _anything_ other than moving forward. Planning their next move in direct reaction to the current fallout of Itachi's actions, whatever that fallout may be.

Itachi took that was his cue to speak up. "If either Sasuke-kun or I were to marry her, we would run the risk of being in open rebellion against Yama. The Hokage might try to stop it."

"He's doing a good job of angering the Kodomo all by himself," another uncle offered angrily.

Itachi shrugged facially. While he wasn't _expressionless,_ per se,he did choose his body language deliberately. His father could be a closed book, but Itachi was an actor by then. "Or because he's already angered them. Perhaps arranging a forced marriage with a proud man's daughter would add insult to injury. But perhaps the Hokage could be made to see it as an opportunity to show Konoha's solidarity in protecting an honored guest, betrayed under our very own nose."

His eldest uncle wrinkled his nose. "But who could care about their interests and opinions and the good will? Who cares about getting the old man to _see things differently,_ or solidarity, or foreign _bitches_ being stolen."

His mother shot him a displeased look and pointedly dismissed her youngest son. "Sasuke-kun, why don't you go to your room and get ready for bed? I believe dinner is truly over, now." Itachi also wondered if his contribution disappointed his mother.

Maybe they were too eclipsed by blood red moons, blinded and bitter. Maybe _they_ were too far gone.

* * *

Namida was nine and pissed.

"Why are we here?"

She was surprised she'd managed to lead the older boy so far out without him finally noticing. While she was sure Itachi _had_ noticed, actually, he was free to speculate until he decided to give up and ask. She continued into the small clearing. It was more like a cove, but Namida could work with tight spaces.

"You're not courting me, Uchiha. You're training me." She turned back when she noticed he'd stopped on the mossy floor, just inside the break in all the trees. "I have nothing else left. No family, no home, no future. At least, not a happy one. I'm being shielded and packed away and I will not just be your wife – or anyone's wife – until I have a reason to have a family. Until I take back what's mine. I won't bear your children and be forgotten. I will not sit idly as the old men decide my fate. It is mine to do with as I please and they will not stop me. You know war, Itachi-san. Teach me war."

Itachi could think of no other response other than to start training her in the woods, in secret.

Namida was still nine and Itachi was _gone_.

All Uchiha were gone, and suddenly she didn't have to worry about marriage. Sasuke didn't have to worry about family. Itachi didn't have to worry about rebellion. It was all only silver linings, if known at all, which most of the mystery wasn't. Namida didn't understand. Sasuke didn't care to. He was just angry.

She approached him after what had happened and she had been promptly rejected. She said she was sorry, offered her sincerest condolences. While she might not have particularly liked the Uchiha, she recognized how no child should have been put through such horror. But that wasn't why she'd come and Sasuke could sense that. She was only being courteous. "Itachi-senpai trained me. We weren't taking long garden walks, or any kind of walks at all. He was training me in the woods, far from all their eyes. And now that there's nothing but ghosts and blood for the both of us, I thought we could train together. Would you like to train with me, Sasuke-kun?"

" _You'd never train Sasuke-kun this way,"_ she'd told Itachi once, teasing. Exhausted, she was taking an impromptu break with her body stretched out on the winking bank of grass. _"You're too delicate with him."_

" _Sasuke-kun is pressured enough as it is."_ Itachi had paced around her in a semi-circle, holding tightly to the stick with which he used to beat her mercilessly. Namida could tell by his impatient prowling that he would not wait long for her to regain her breath. No sooner than he said what he said, did he lunge at her again in an arching attack. Namida's hand flashed to her own identical staff at the same time she kipped up and blocked in one continuous motion. He hit a few more times, and they exchanged blows back and forth.

" _You're getting faster."_

She had grinned. Praise from the renowned genius made her feel alive again.

Presently, Sasuke snapped, "And what? Start calling _you_ sensei? Senpai? Marry you someday now that it doesn't matter?"

Sasuke was almost nine, but it seemed like an odd thing for him to say. She was used to saying it. Dreaming with other girls about who they'd want to marry. There were plenty of great warriors and cute boys to dream of in Yama. _Baachan_ would have disapproved, but it was an easy topic that made the other girls laugh and love her. Her grandmother could be prickly. Namida was nothing but sweet and docile and doting. It earned her favors. But never any from her father. Junichi might've been occasionally swooned but, all things considered, that was probably snuffed out.

"To be fair, we'd make beautiful babies. Powerful children. And maybe once the dust settles we could leave them a great and proud legacy." She winked. "Maybe you get your vengeance. Maybe you can scheme a little bigger. Plan accordingly in the world around you. There are plenty of ways to get what you want."

"I want _nothing_ to do with him. I want nothing to do with _you_."

"You're grieving, so I'll forgive you and beg you to reconsider." She didn't look like she was begging. She didn't look pleading whatsoever. "We could look good fighting together. I like our odds."

"And how could a sickly loser like _you_ help me learn to fight? Help me become powerful enough to beat _him_?"

That actually stung, but it wasn't the strongest of insults so she shook her head and smirked. "I was never sick, Uchiha."

"I said _no._ Leave me alone."

Her lip and eyebrow quirked, and she shrugged. "Fine then."

Sasuke didn't wonder until later, after his blood settled and he returned to a more normal state of mind, what she'd meant. _"I was never sick."_

* * *

Namida was ten when she graduated the academy, only a short year later.

Sarutobi was both surprised and impressed. He'd allowed her to train and learn in his village to keep her busy, but now that he was staring down the barrel of this new predicament, he felt worry. "You'll never be allowed to return to Yama once you become a kunoichi of Konoha, you understand?"

Namida smiled bleakly. "Good." He didn't need to know it was a lie. If he had his suspicions, he honestly couldn't tell the fact from the fiction. Namida had learned performance skills from Itachi as well as fighting. But Sarutobi knew from the look in her eyes that she had other ideas.

She graduated with Ayumu, the second daughter of the Sasaki clan who had been sent from a young age to live among the Kodomo as a handmaid. And they were joined by Daisuke, technically the heir of the Nakamura clan. The boy had come with the Koorikage's party on the visit that ended her life with his older brother who was killed in the uproar. Yet another reason to make Sarutobi wary of Yamagakure's wrath. He put Team 13 under the tutelage and supervision of Masaru Kuro, a young and impatient jounin aspiring toward ANBU, who's steady progress was halted by the unexpected opportunity to tutor the young children. Kuro had been fairly annoyed, Sarutobi could tell, but he didn't complain. At least, not to the _Hokage_.

"It will be a good learning experience," Sarutobi assured him. Certainly, the young man could gain the value of patience among a squabbling squad of displaced refugees. Another thing that irked Kuro was how, out of all three genin, none were truly Konoha's. They'd been given blank forehead protectors, but he didn't catch the children wearing them often.

Kuro had been as unimpressed with the genin when he first met them as they – mainly Namida – had been with him. They were scrawny and stumped by his presence. They couldn't seem to comprehend what this boy was doing among them, wearing the standard-issue jounin outfit.

Namida had taken one look at him and didn't seem pleased. "How old are you?"

When Kuro raised an eyebrow, it was toward the _Sandaime_. But he turned back to his new squad when he told her, "Fourteen." He was around the age Itachi would have been by then, and undoubtedly shared similar prodigy-like signs despite his lack of elite clan membership or bloodline limit.

Namida looked sharply toward Sarutobi and scowled. Then she said something in a language Kuro did not know, but could hazard to guess the subject of which, pertaining to him, was not nice.

" _You give us a baby?"_

"I assure you, Kuro-kun is more than able."

"We graduated with kids only a few years younger than him." Her accent was thick, but when Sarutobi replied in the common language, so did she. " _We_ are only a few years younger than him."

"And when has _age,"_ the Hokage answered, "ever stopped anyone around here?"

"Look," Kuro said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's fine. If they do not want me, Sandaime-sama, then I will gladly be reassigned so that someone more _qualified_ may replace me."

"Nonsense, Kuro-kun. I respect Namida-chan's valid concerns and maintain her every right to voice them. However, _you_ will be Team 13's instructor."

Namida didn't have a choice. And neither did Kuro.

In a year's time, Namida was the only member of Team 13 to pass the chuunin exams.


	2. Is the Beginning

**Two old friends have brunch and discuss concerning matters**

* * *

Chapter Two: Is the Beginning

Namida was almost fourteen and on the cusp of jounin testing. It was impressive, considering she had only been made chuunin about three years ago.

Already in a year's time since their own academy graduation, the Rookie 9 was testing for chuunin. It was something Ayumu and Daisuke had still yet to accomplish. Something _Hyuuga Neji_ had still yet to accomplish. Perhaps they were getting quicker at catching up. Perhaps, Namida thought, she should work faster.

She couldn't help but think that Itachi had long since surpassed her current position when he was her age, entering the ANBU ranks and clearing his way to captain. Technically by her age, Itachi had murdered his whole clan and stole away in the middle of the night to join some illegal organization, if the rumors she heard were true. But Sasuke wouldn't hear it from her, given his last reaction. She was sure those who _were_ privy to that information had decided not to share it with him, and for quasi-good reasons. The only reason she knew (the only reason she knew most of the _really_ juicy gossip) was because she had a very effective and very _nosy_ summons, who had the tendency to sleuth on her behalf if she batted her eyelashes.

She briefly considered how convenient it must have been for Itachi that the Uchiha were relocated to a single area of shared living space following the Kyuubi attack. But she didn't spend much time ruminating over him or humoring other conspiracies, as deep as the secrecy ran and as many unanswered questions as there still were. He was far outside her reason for worry. There wasn't much else she could do and no reason it should have to involve her. There were other, more pressing matters to address.

Namida was stationed at a window and propped up by the heels of her hands on the windowsill, idly taking in the cheerful Konoha street below and essentially people-watching. The Response Center was tall enough to overlook stretches of lower roofs belonging to homes, apartments, and businesses. They all fed ribbon-like into one of the main, perpendicular streets farther out and closer to the village's center. Yama required slanted roofs to prevent the weight of snow from causing them to collapse but level roofs, which Namida had not been used to at first, were sure convenient for ninja travel. She compared the villagers' foot traffic to the shinobi flitting from one elevated perch to the next.

Behind her, she largely ignored the addling sights and sounds of equipment being transported, whirling machines, and the harried busybody personnel – mainly medic nin and what one would consider nurses, as well as the occasional security, janitor, or nervous genin forced into bitch work. She stayed planted that way right up to the moment she sensed Kuro's arrival and even then, she gave little indication he was there at all. Her sensei (technically ex-sensei) arrived as silently as someone of his status should, appearing with a smart shadow flick and a smile. It became brittle when she randomly voiced her train of thought: "Itachi-san was ANBU captain by my age now."

"Technically, he murdered his whole family by this age." Kuro was quick-witted, a skill only sharpened by Namida's outlandish tendency to keep everyone on their toes. The way his response reflected her previous assessment almost verbatim made Namida grin (or perhaps the case was vice versa. After such prolonged exposure to not only his tutelage, but his dark and often tasteless humor, she must have begun to think similarly to him). Her long lashes fluttered briefly against her cheeks when a fond look passed, not for the view before her but for the man behind her.

"Get out of my head!" She finally spun around to face him, one hand still touching the glass and the other brushing over her heart. "We spend too much time together, Kuro-sensei."

"And who's fault is that? If I had it my way, I would be _in bed_ at six a.m., not the training fields."

She tutted disapprovingly. "There was a time _you_ were just as excitable, gramps."

He frowned in speculation, squinting down his nose and slightly raised chin. Kuro was already so much taller than her that stretching himself out in a posturing manner made Namida's brow twitch in annoyance. "Why consider him now, anyway? You should dwell on nicer things!" He uncrossed his arms and gave her a good, albeit brief, shake when he got ahold of her shoulders. "Like your upcoming promotion?"

She batted him away. "It is a fool who considers the battle already won." And _fuck her_ , Kuro realized belatedly how she was parroting his own words, from a past version of himself who was more serious and astute. He smirked gamely and chuckled, stuffing one hand in the pocket of his trousers and using the other to scratch the back of his neck.

"Perhaps some things are more _obvious,_ 'Tenba-chan. You," he gestured vaguely toward her, palm up and fingers splayed, "will excel the expectations for these tests, of this I have no doubt."

"Perhaps," it was Namida's turn to cross her arm, and her ankles as well, leaning back on her hip. "But you are supposed to be supervising my preparation, and yet you are _late."_

He sighed dramatically. "I thought we were going out to eat?"

"Light meal and then training," she admonished strictly. "And then a big dinner, huh?"

"You _tricked_ me."

"Kaka-sensei is beginning to rub off on you," she accused. "All those secret missions you two lovers fly off to in the middle of the night? _My_ sensei would have never been late at the birth of Team 13, not to meet an old friend for pre-congratulatory lunch."

"Oh, so we _are_ celebrating? I thought you haven't passed the tests yet?"

She snorted and turned back to the window now over her shoulder when Kuro glanced around the lobby area in which they currently loitered in a moment of distraction, situated at the crossroad of three big hallways. It was always instinct to survey a scene initially, but more lackadaisical examination was a bonus when one had the time. He wasn't sure why she'd want to meet in the Response Center, but he figured Daisuke had been spending a lot of time there and her favorite coffee shop was just down the street. "But it's as you said… how could I not pass, especially considering the state of the others?"

"Jounin testing is drastically different from the chuunin exams. It doesn't matter who happens to be testing at the same time as you. You're not pitted against other squads and facing off against each other. But you _are_ on your own."

Namida hummed. "First, we must get through these chuunin exams." She rolled her eyes. "Which, for the record, doesn't sit right with me. I heard the Kazekage has been going mad, and that Yama nin will be attending this time..."

Kuro shifted his weight nervously and averted his gaze, before his eyes returned scrutiny to the back half of Namida's skull. "Hokage-sama has set up very strict limitations. We are only allowing in the bare and essential minimum – genin, their instructors, select chuunin personnel, and a few other non-militant guests." She didn't know why he felt the need to reiterate something he already knew she knew. Perhaps it was his way of trying to console her. While Namida didn't need comfort, frank discussion was welcome. She wasn't _hurt_ or _scared,_ but she _was_ wary. And she would only be relatively pacified by plans and back-up plans.

"The High Priest. He will be proxying the final test in the Koorikage's stead."

"Yes, well, your father obviously won't be stepping foot in the village. He still means to murder you."

"Oh no, he won't be trying to do that anymore." The confident statement caught Kuro off-guard. With all that had happened since Team 13's formation – the work and play, the horror and fun, the adventure and close encounters with near-death – it was not often the subject was touched. Namida could complain about her messy situation on a spectrum anywhere from clownery to dry and bitter humorlessness. But she was sometimes overtly touchy about certain facets and only brought them up when necessary. It arose at surprisingly inconvenient times. This, thankfully, was not one of those times. Kuro could tell by the casual tone of her voice. "He'll try to steal me."

Kuro played along just as nonchalantly. "During the exams?"

"Not necessarily. It _would_ be very risky. It might even cause war, though I doubt it at this stage unless he _really_ blunders up bad. But the exams are not without their opportunity." She decided to go on and tackle the unasked question. "I've lived in Konoha, now, for almost five years. I know every inch of this village. We're practically Konoha nin in all but name. I'd be useful to him, returned."

The use of 'we' reminded Kuro of another element. "That's assuming it's _you_ he'll try to kidnap, and not Daisuke-kun. Or even Ayumu-chan."

"True, I guess any one of us would do. It's not like anyone in Yama would be particularly bothered by their detainment." Of course, she had already taken that into account. "Still, _Ojiisan_ has been letting me on missions outside less and less. And when he does, it's almost always with higher ranked jounin such as yourself. I need to be _leading_ missions. Especially considering I'm almost jounin myself."

He chortled a little. "Otenba-chan, he's trying to protect you. But also, he _is_ giving you leadership tasks. Sorting teams, picking missions, these things that help run a village..."

"It's busy work," she argued.

"Listen, there's no one who thinks you can take back what was stolen from you more than the Hokage, even if he cannot possibly or officially say the words." That reminded her it was bold to speak of the desire to eventually return to Yama when it could be considered treason on her part, now sworn to Konoha. "But you can't do it dead. Or captured."

"It feels like I'm not doing _anything_ ," she sighed. Like she was becoming a static fixture. "It doesn't feel like I'm fighting for it like this."

"There's nothing to fight right now. A good opponent waits patiently and plans for an opening. You can't do a thing in your position now, as it so happens to be."

"I'll be an old woman when I finally take it all back."

"If fifty years is what it takes, I have no doubt you have the tenacity."

She huffed with laughter. "Come on." She pushed herself into a more upright position and led Kuro down a hall toward the stairs instead of the slow and congested elevators. She always preferred more effort and manual labor over waiting and lack of personal space, evidently.

"Was Daisuke-kun working with the medics again?" He asked after her, searching for the familiar head of spiky, bottle blue hair before they hit the door to the stairwell.

Namida nodded. "He just got off his shift, though, and had to go meet up with Ayumu-chan and Kimi-chan. About the exams, I take it?"

Kuro nodded. "Ayumu-chan and Daisuke-kun are definitely more than ready this time. It's a shame that the only time they made it to the third round was their first time with you, when they were still inexperienced. If they hadn't been knocked out beforehand the last times, I'm sure they would have fared much better."

"Because in the final, it doesn't matter if they win or lose."

As they trekked toward the bottom level and out a back exit, Kuro went into detail explaining how the third exam was judged by merit, skill, and performance. Namida knew the process well, having gone through it herself and becoming something of a regular spectator since, but Kuro liked to be expositional and thorough, and couldn't seem to keep track of who knew what and what he had told whom. Still, sometimes his repetition did clarify certain things or go into more description, so at least it was of more use than just humoring his forgetfulness. Sometimes, he'd even inadvertently let certain, previously unknown and more covert, facts slip out. He trusted her like that. Sometimes Namida wondered why.

Outside, there was a wonderfully clear and bright sky paired with an _awful_ heat, same as every other day. Loitering bunches of shinobi smoked or strolled or chatted with their friends, and all eyed the duo as they passed. But after so many years following the initial excitement of Namida's loss and being made a _charity case_ , she was less of a centerpiece and more like a side salad. The villagers had other gossip which took up their energy and attention – like the orphaned heir of their greatest clan, a reportedly weak heiress to the next greatest, and a demon boy. Namida listened in on all sorts of interesting things.

She remembered the final exam's arena well, packed with shinobi and civilians alike originating from a plethora of different villages and spanning all manner of classes. It was not difficult for the poorer to acquire the cheaper tickets. The village leaders themselves sat together in an elevated, centered gallery. She had learned the faces of many Kages who rotated up there, year after year. Yama hadn't attended since their assassination plot. The exams _were_ twice a year, but not always hosted in Konoha. And Konoha nin did not make an appearance at the exams held in Yama, either.

"Did you see the son of the Kazekage?"

"Which one?" Judging by the laughter in his voice, he knew _exactly_ which one, and she shot him an unamused glare.

"Oh, the cute little redhead, about yay tall," she grumbled, her hand cursorily designating a height only a few inches shorter than herself, "with a bad case of killer intent and making no attempt whatsoever to mask it? He was terrorizing Team 7 earlier along with the _honorable grandson_."

"If Konohamaru-kun was there, that is… distressing."

While she hadn't seen the tension once the genin team had bumped into the other firsthand, her familiar had given her his account. Ookami-san was constantly prowling and gathering intel, reporting back to her when Namida was off-duty or in the village. She trained with him often enough to satisfy networking purposes. She had also taken up the habits of having tea with him (his helping unceremoniously served in a dog bowl) and taking him on long walks. While Ookami tended to complain about being treated like a pet, he seemed to enjoy what Namida would call "hanging out", and what he would call "keeping her out of trouble" like some noble, melodramatic sentry.

"Gaara no Sabaki," Kuro answered finally. "He's called Gaara of the desert."

"Is it true what they say about the demon?"

He gave her a reprimanding look. "We're not supposed to talk about that?" They passed a gaggle of giggling children playing behind a strolling older couple, racing in and out of their way. One bumped into Namida and she lightly shoved him away, rolling her eyes more toward Kuro than the kid.

"And yet here we are, talking about it."

"Here _you_ are maybe." He glanced around them, perfectly paranoid. While Namida was all for playing it smart and – by extension, she guessed – safe, there was only so much of Kuro's responsible sensibilities she could take without haggling him. But the closer they grew to the popular coffee shop, the larger the amount of people on the road became and that disconcerted him. Civilians and shinobi on all sides donned a variety of bright garb. Namida couldn't help but think that the styles would have never been allowable in Yama – where one always wore colors that could blend in with snow, varying shades of black and white and grey with no color or saturation of which to speak. Here, girls and boys alike could wear revealing clothes suitable to the hot temperature.

"No one cares about our conversations, Kuro-sensei. They're boring and we're boring," she reminded him. "Active ANBU spies have better ways to spend their time."

"You never know. There are so many ears around us. On duty or off, in all manner of capacity."

Namida pointed mischievously at a woman sewing some garment in an flaky wicker chair on her front porch. Her grandson was settled at her feet and playing with a couple of timeworn, wooden toys. "What about them? You think they are listening in on us?"

To that, he could only shrug. "Maybe?" She shoved him playfully.

Namida liked the fashion of Konoha, it's light weight and the freedom of movement it afforded. She had started wearing a dark blue v-neck cut off at her midriff, the back of which Ayumu had decorated with the Kodomo crest in an exercise of her neglected sewing skills. It was a talent the handmaiden had learned from Namida's mother. Yuki never liked Namida's _common_ _friend_ much at all. It was plainly by accident that all those lessons Yuki forced upon Namida, which fell on her deaf ears, had not been wasted on the quiet wallflower that was Ayumu. Ayumu – the considerate and kindhearted girl – also included the sigil on Namida's green vest, though she only wore it out on missions, when she met with the Hokage and other officials, or anything else related to work. Happy hour with coworkers included.

Namida was still fairly covered by a mesh shirt with elbow-length sleeves underneath the crop-top. It was just a little longer, but there was only a thin strip of flesh glancing out between that and her high-waisted slacks, which in turn tucked into tightly fastened shin guards. She had black boots to match (some of Yama's influence still remained). The baggy nature of the dark pants gave her many inside pockets, adding to the storage capacity of the kunai pouch strapped externally to her left thigh.

"It was sealed within him as an infant?" She egged him on, turning toward him and shamelessly fishing for information. "Come on, it's not like this is _Konoha's_ dirty laundry we're airing out."

Kuro sighed and rubbed his jaw. "Yes, they say he grew up volatile, eventually became unstable, and that the Kazekage continues to send the occasional assassin after him. So far, obviously none have succeeded… or even survived."

"Oh wow, and you chastised _me_ for oversharing in public? The fuck kind of bomb is _that_ to drop on someone during brunch?" They had finally made it to the coffee shop, and Namida kept talking throughout the process of seat hunting. "How do you know all that?"

"Many people here have many ears. Myself included," he admitted, scratching a scar on his cheek. "Those wolves were my summons first, remember."

"For such a dangerous, ostentatious breed, they certainly are stealthy gossips."

"Why is it so damn busy here? Why do you drag me to the noisiest places?" He continued to grumble as he plopped down in an only recently vacated spot. Namida swept into the seat across from him, planting both elbows on the table and her cheek in one hand.

"You're just a grouchy old man," she commented, teasing. "This is fun and trendy!" Then, she blinked slowly and returned to the original subject. "Is he really unstable? Or is his father just a dick?"

Kuro shrugged, just as the barista brought their usual orders to the table. "Mizu-san went on a B-ranked mission with him once. It was a nasty assassination in the camp of some guerrilla force. Awful business – nothing for a little lady such as yourself."

"Kuro-sensei," Namida snapped, "we've literally been on that exact same mission before." The waitress left almost as soon as she came. Civilians tended to act skittish when shinobi started discussing shinobi things. Alternatively, there were also ones who seemed to enjoy flagrantly listening in like it was the coolest thing on earth, for some kind of vicarious thrill.

"There _have_ been a lot," he snorted. "They all begin to blur after a while."

"Well, there are a few memorable exceptions," she rebutted, grabbing her mug. Kuro eyed his tea, and then glanced back to her.

"Mizu-san told me that the look in the boy's eyes… He'd never seen that look on anyone before, not even during The War."

"War makes monsters out of men. It is known. But for young _Gaara,_ who has never experienced traditional warfare, to enjoy it so perversely? Naruto-kun is not this way." The look he gave her was not only reproachful, but downright murderous. "I wonder if it's truly all due to the demon?"

Kuro frowned. "Perhaps there's more to the story."

"That _is_ troublesome. Have you considered that something's up with this whole chuunin exam thing? I mean, first Yama nin are attending for the first time in five years, and now this demon is at our doors?"

"You aren't planning anything dangerous, are you, 'Tenba-chan?"

"No, not yet."

"Because I've seen that look in your eyes before."

"What eyes?" she played dumb, looking around and pressing the backs of her hands over aforementioned eyes as she did, waggling her fingers. "I don't have eyes. I can't see a thing." She was chortling when she let her arms drop once again. Even Kuro, who at first clicked his tongue, chuckled a bit. "I'm just worried, is all. Aren't you worried?"

"Hokage-sama knows what's best," he replied simply.

She pursed her lips before taking a forceful bite of her pastry. Kuro wrinkled his nose in disgust. It was still too early for such sweet things, but Namida washed it down with a swig of what was most probably scalding hot and bitter coffee. Smacking her lips together as she chewed and swallowed, the ministrations did not stop her from continuing. "And Sound nin? Where do they come from?" She leaned in and raised her pinky, ring finger, and middle finger. "That's three odd things."


	3. The First Exam

**Team 13 faces the first test in the chuunin exams. We learn more about Kimi and Kuro. Daisuke and Ayumu have had a running streak of bad luck trying to get promoted. Namida sees a familiar face… Hears a familiar voice? There's no shortage of self-conscious genin, self-conscious chuunin, and self-conscious teachers.**

* * *

Chapter Three: The First Exam

"Don't forget about the genjutsu – they'll try to switch up the room numbers on you. 'Yumu-chan, you're good with genjutsu, so you'll be able to tell easily."

Namida's voice was loud and a bit off frequency in their coms, resulting in a smarting feedback on their end. The trio winced and Ayumu adjusted her earpiece as Daisuke rolled his eyes and huffed. "We know, Nami-chan," he whined. "We've made it past the _first round_ before."

They were going to _cheat._ It was slightly less impressive than it sounded, considering cheating was actually an expected requirement of the exam. But they certainly came prepared and gone all out. Namida was wholeheartedly ready and willing to be a part of their schemes and spoke to them through the most discrete shinobi radio systems that ninja money could buy. If she couldn't be there to support her friends in person for the first exam, she was at least with them in _spirit._

They realized they didn't necessarily have to fill out the answers to _any_ of the first nine questions. It was supposedly the last trick question that counted, but they could never be too sure. Namida had heard varying accounts, after all, and sometimes it did seem to matter.

Ayumu and Daisuke had actively cheated on the written exam before. A year after Namida's promotion had seen them without a third teammate. They had been paired with a random genin named Emon, whose squad members had been promoted the previous year with Namida. The group was eliminated in the second test and they hadn't heard anything about Emon since. Supposedly, he dropped being a nin for family reasons and moved to another part of town. Burn out, some muttered. Namida felt that was harsh. Ninja life was hard – nin should be able to sympathize and civilians couldn't possibly understand. And Namida _had_ checked up on him to discover he had taken charge of his family's lucrative shop after his mother had passed, forging and selling shinobi weapons.

It was that year Kimi joined them. She was a little younger than the rest of Rookie 9, though she had essentially "skipped a grade" after Team 13's graduation. Kimi had spent some time in the same class before graduating early herself, around the same age Namida had been. Sarutobi had insisted on assigning her to Team 13 as Namida's replacement. The other two were a bit put out at being given a genin fresh out of the academy. Kuro debated if she was ready for the exams the following year, but Namida had been supportive and the others were eager to try again. Kimi would not disappoint them by refusing, regardless of the potential danger.

Unfortunately, it was Kimi who was caught and failed during the first round. That barred the other two from going on to the next test, which required a whole team. That was last year, and the real kicker was that Kimi was insanely smart with the theoretical. She produced the answers to most of the questions herself. But for the few of which she had been unsure, she tried to cheat, and Kimi had been _dreadful_ at cheating. She was eternally embarrassed by her failure, though the team continually assured her that it was far from her own fault. They expected too much of her, caught up in the carousel of their own lives.

While Kimi had excelled in the academy with top marks, she wasn't as prepared for actual ninja life as she originally thought, amounting in the constant feeling of being overwhelmed and underwhelming compared the her team and their skills. It was fine for the sake of suitable D-ranked missions, and Kimi performed even the most remedial of tasks without a hint of complaint that the "mature" Daisuke and Namida failed spectacularly at.

But Namida remembered the rare cases – when a client would lie about the dangers presented on an otherwise routine journey, when bloodthirsty nin or renegade bandits with a myriad of trained backgrounds would chance across them and decide to attack, when a mission would be suddenly upped in ranking (in which case, they would normally be pulled back, the situation reevaluated, or those more capable would be dispatched, but exceptions still remained). It was a dangerous job, regardless of the safety restrictions put in place. Genin were put into uncomfortable and downright dangerous positions all the time. They consistently faced the unknown or unexpected. Every shinobi knew their life could always be on the line, regardless of mission severity. That was why they were considered adults as genin.

It was these more gruesome situations that gave Kimi nightmares. It wasn't like the rest of them were imperious to such things, but it seemed _wrong_ for someone so young and novice to fall prey to them as well. Often, it made Namida think they were an infectious disease. Their actions or negligent antics caused it, _begged_ for it. But she knew objectively that it was just a job hazard, one that Kimi – unwittingly or no – had signed up for.

Kimi lived with her family, but often she slept over at the apartment of the Yama nin. Sometimes, it would be impromptu. They would be hanging out and they would happen to fall asleep. More often than not, Kimi was more comfortable with the genin rather than the chuunin, so Namida would return home from a mission and find them dozed off. She had insisted that Ayumu and Daisuke make Kimi stay in her bedroom when that occurred, and she could take the couch or even go to Kuro's place. In those instances, Namida would get a glimpse of Kimi's fitful sleep and be there if she wanted to talk.

Sometimes, Kimi came over specifically for a consoling ear in the dead of the night. It wasn't something Namida took lightly, knowing how it was a decision the girl must have wrestled with over her nature to avoid being bothersome. Other times, Kimi sought out Kuro, who easily had them all beat in the department of night terrors and sleep trouble. Namida was surprised the first few times Kimi expressly came to _her_ , but she was touched and eager to help the genin compartmentalize her emotions, more than she would be annoyed as Kimi feared.

"Yeah, you've already been through it. Thrice now. Ibiki-san must be sick of seeing your faces."

"Hey, I think there's a kid around here who's been through this thing _seven times…."_

"Besides, I'm posturing for _Kimi-chan's_ sake. She's still green and doesn't have the run-around as, ah, well versed as _you two_ do _.._." Which would explain how she got caught cheating on a portion of the exam one didn't even need to complete. They really should have done a better job giving her detailed clarification, in hindsight. It was a stupid mistake, but Namida learned from stupid mistakes all the time. Whatever else Namida was going to say was aborted when she figured out they weren't listening on the other end. She heard a shrill _bang_ that almost made her tear out the electronic in her ear.

"What was that?"

" _Who_ was that?"

 _"Why the fuck?"_ Ayumu's last comment made Namida's lips twitch.

"Language, 'Yumu-chan," she chastised, like a fucking hypocrite. Her vulgarity had rubbed off well on her friend. "Guys? What's going on?" She thought she heard someone else speaking. The equipment was pretty good for locating voices in closer proximity, so whoever it was must have been some distance away to hear them so faintly. Maybe they were mumbling. Maybe it was one of the Rookie 9? It was a long minute before she caught anything more clearly.

"Quick reflexes." That didn't bode well. It gave a complimentary impression, but how could it have been delivered if not following an attack? With the explosive sound still ringing in Namida's ears, it reminded her that she couldn't get too comfortable despite no apparent tells of a scuffle.

"Itsuki Haru-sempai."

"No way! Itsuki is there?" She asked, even though Daisuke clearly had not been speaking to her. He'd said the name by way of greeting, and it was clear from his voice that there was hostility behind his teeth. "Is Jun-chan with him?" She was disregarded again, though not particularly offended. She did enjoy providing background commentary.

"We can't continue to procrastinate any longer, Haru-kun." Female. If she was with Itsuki, that would mean it was probably Izanami Mayu.

"Come on, you have to go sign in." _Oh… That was his voice._ Though Namida couldn't see, he turned back Team 13 and gave them a once-over for the first time, then eyed Ayumu sharply with crystal blue eyes. "Tell _imouto-chan_ I say hi." It was an innocent enough statement, but Namida couldn't help but think he _knew_ she was listening. Maybe she was just paranoid.

Izanami followed Itsuki was dragged off, complaining the whole way. "You're no fun, _Junichi-kun…"_

The voices gradually faded away, but Namida's heart was a half-beat too rapid from just that weak, second-hand encounter. She didn't feel fear, though, mainly just interest and anticipation. She was excitable by nature, and the… insult of her brother's attendance felt more like a challenge. Alone in one of Konoha's many libraries, she was glad her tiny cove was crannied seclusively behind shelves stacked high with scrolls and books, shielding her from window light and curious eyes. In the dusky, dusty nook – walled in at the table she had claimed her own by a short selection of references she judged as potentially useful for her contribution to the cheating portion of the written exam – she felt it was fair enough to respond with light hand tremors and an eager smirk.

"What was that all about?" She asked casually as soon as she heard them drift away.

"Who was that?" Kimi asked, also hooked up to their frequency. She'd said so little that Namdia had almost forgotten she was there. "Nami-chan, he looked very similar to you! … Kinda, I mean… Except the hair, I guess. There's a resemblance."

"Almost like we're _twins,_ huh?"

"Yeah, Namida, your brother's here," Daisuke picked up, sounding annoyed.

"Your _brother?"_ Kimi was also often ignored. But it reminded her of what Junichi said in parting. _Imouto-chan._ But wasn't Namida older?

"And his psychotic friend just tossed an exploding tag at us out of nowhere. Complete surprise attack!"

"To test you," she said. "Or intimidate you. Not very neighborly."

"Speaking of intimidation," Ayumu responded, "he had his Aisugan activated."

"What a dick. But we already knew he had his Aisugan."

Daisuke sounded surprised. "We did?"

Ayumu chuckled. "Aren't you ever paying attention, Daisuke-kun?"

"Not as dogmatically as you two are, apparently."

"Why is Jun-chan there?" Namida wondered. "He's chuunin already."

"His teammates are still genin," Daisuke surmised. Namida had been keeping such close tabs on Junichi back then, during her attempt to glean and process Yama exam results, that she barely paid any of the other promotions attention. "He's probably one of the Chuunin that will be summoned after we open the seals on the second test."

"We'll be seeing them all again," Ayumu agreed.

* * *

"Kuro-sensei!" Namida cried, rushing through the door that _had been_ locked. Like they hadn't already orchestrated their own private mission to steal his keys, duplicate them, and return them without Kuro being the wiser. It was cute, in a way, how he still vainly tried to hold onto his sense of privacy. Kuro owned his own quaint, one-story house, so there was no need to worry about a landlord's wrath or loudly getting on the neighbors' nerves unless they tried hard enough. "The brats passed the first exam. You ready to cook them some well-earned dinner?"

Their sensei _hated_ when they barged in and, without evidence of lock tampering, he really should have caught on by now. But he turned a blind eye. It was an immature stunt for which they never minded being scolded before (they actually found it quite entertaining, the comical way Kuro's vein ticked) and today they were especially too animated to comply. The three genin behind Namida had passed their first test – the farthest that Kimi had come so far. But they received no answer to their entrance and Namida's call. "Kuro-sensei?"

Nothing but silence, which was answer enough. "Must be out on a mission again," Daisuke shrugged.

"He's on a mission?" she snapped, playfully stomping her foot. "At such a time? How convenient!"

"Work waits for no one."

"What if he's just out at the store?" Kimi supplied. "Or training?"

"The place is clean," Ayumu explained, settling down on the couch and preparing for a long wait. Namida flopped down beside her, apparently boneless.

"Kuro-sensei only tidies right before a mission. The cleaner it is, the more he's worried about it," she noted. He was an orderly nin by default, but he wasn't without the natural tendency of healthy disarray. The slight touch of messiness sometimes grew in proportions depending on his mood, no excessive maintenance preserved for extended periods of time between one housework ordeal and the next. His normal setting was not like the absolute cleanliness going on now. He liked coming back from missions to infirmary standards, and Namida could still smell the lemon-scented chemicals prepared for his homecoming. It made sense, since Kuro had a worrying aversion to hospitals and preferred to stitch himself up if he could.

"Kimi-chan, raid his cabinets," she whined, more than ordered. "See if we can make anything or if we gotta go shopping." The potential stigma over blatantly rifling through the belongings of one's sensei was almost immediately overlooked. Kimi nodded, always eager to please most of the chuunin's whims. The girl didn't have a hidden backbone like Ayumu and wasn't as familiar with her as the other two, who would have most likely told Namida to screw off. But it wasn't like Namida was a stranger anymore, two years after they first met. While the anxiousness had calmed down since the earlier days, it donned some identity akin to lowkey hero worship, for lack of a better term. Kimi felt she had a lot to live up to, shadowed by Namida's instrumental position in the squad.

The former member of Kimi's new team still seemed to intimidate her, probably due to being the most junior partner, even when Kuro would be busy and Namida would be sent in his stead to supervise them out on missions. Not that they really needed her command for the classification of work they received, except perhaps poor Kimi. They were a more senior genin team, like Team Gai, but Kimi being a rookie tended to land them with lesser tasks more often then not. Namida always tried to make even the most mundane work into a learning experience for the newest genin, as she had observed Kuro do for them in the past. Sometimes, Namida worried that her abridged time under his instruction had robbed her of a more nuanced understanding of his teaching methods, but she did what she could. It wasn't like her aim was to be a sensei, anyway, though it did seem like a road Sarutobi was pushing her down as of late.

Daisuke finally took a seat next to them, sparing some space for Kimi and squishing them together. "What d'you think," he asked, "Assassination in the tribes?"

"Try undercover diplomacy," Ayumu guessed, still sitting politely as Namida elbowed for more room before giving up with a deflating sigh.

"Southwest border's been a political mess. That sounds taxing. I'd hate to have to tread so lightly."

"I don't think you even know how."

"For someone so ambitious, you sure don't like to exert energy," Daisuke teased.

"Hah! My motto is to work smart, not hard."

* * *

Kuro returned late for some much needed sanctuary, but his place wasn't as he'd left it and he wasn't exactly taken aback. The kitchen was a mess beyond hope and he hadn't conserved the optimism to expect that particular area would be spared. There were blankets and pillows strewn all over his living room and it looked like his four students had found his stash of sake. His little genin were fast asleep on the couch, and Namida had been on the verge of nodding off in the adjacent, overstuffed chair before he arrived. She lackadaisically petted his cat and – from the state of her half-filled glass – was still drinking. It looked like they had done most of their consumption in that room. Daisuke still had an empty cup in his hand. Kuro desperately wished he finished it off instead of spilling it in his slumber.

Namida looked up at Kuro when he entered and took in the arterial splatters of blood covering him before the actual wounds. Preluding having to deal with those, she silently poured him a drink of his own. He took it gratefully and sat on the floor at the low table as Namida repositioned herself. She was always keen in relieving his ailments, starting with his mind (with the help of some mind-numbing agents) rather than his body. Some nights, he wondered if he should pay her for therapy.

It was a comfortable silence and a steady routine. Namida being a night owl with sleeping habits almost as poor and on par with Kuro's himself meant she was usually the last survivor to stem off sleep in anticipation of his return. Kuro secretly valued late-night chats with her. Even with the occasional raw vulnerability, there was a depth of introspection and a well of understanding he didn't imagine he'd find with the kindred spirit of an awfully young student. There was a melodic quality to the whispering not meant to wake up the others. If they did wake up, the floor was often opened to more tongue-in-cheek affairs.

As they made small conversation, the duo didn't realize that Kimi had stirred upon Kuro's appearance. Though she wasn't conscious enough for them to notice, she was aware enough to retain some of what she heard. "What were you thinking? Leaving me alone in this deathtrap?"

"It's not a deathtrap," Kuro brushed off Namida's nagging. "Next time I'm summoned by Hokage-sama himself, I'll have them stop everything and send for you, so _you_ can explain why I'm blatantly rejecting a mission for silly fear."

"It's not silly. Suna, Yama, and Oto nin are surrounding us."

"They're allies."

"Are they?"

"Well… Suna and Oto are."

"Oto is mysterious and too new to guess what their intentions are." She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "…Y'know, Junichi-kun is here."

"I'm sorry."

She peeked one eye open, staring at him shrewdly. "I'm annoyed."

"You're anxious."

"Lift your arm and raise your shirt. I can stitch up that _silly_ laceration."

"Is it normal in Yama to trespass on your sensei's property?" He asked, as he followed instructions and Namida reached for a patiently waiting medical kit.

"Shut up. Like you aren't used to it by now," she gave him a pointedly laughing look, "or like it."

 _The first time he'd come home and they were inexplicably present belonged to an era before Kimi, when it was just the four of them… Kuro didn't know how else to describe it besides…new and unsure and_ strange _. He was so exhausted and out of it that, instead of chastising them like he should have, he covered the threshold and hesitated. Daisuke and Ayumu were still dazed with sleepy stares, rubbing their eyes. But Namida had flinched at the alarming speed Kuro had used without realizing._

 _She stood up, engaging slowly, and he couldn't tell if she was still half-asleep or just wary. Kuro had an obvious, if not mild, concussion and blood streaked down his face from his hairline. His eyes were unfocused and distant. A fuzzy-headed shinobi was dangerous, in the worst-case scenario._

" _Kuro-sensei, we were worried sick. Who the fuck sent you home in this state?" She snapped irritably. He collapsed, unconsciously grabbing her for balance and nearly bringing her down with him to his knees. She hissed at the scratch he left inside her forearm, and at the pressure he used to grip her legs when their briefly grasping hands immediately slipped. He leaned tiredly on her, moaning. She relaxed and chuckled a little with a cache of breath she had been holding. He wasn't being scary, just complaintive and concussed._

 _Namida kicked him lightly and Kuro readjusted himself to sit on the floor against the couch. She sat down daintily beside him, hugging her knees and watching him as he relaxed and Ayumu and Daisuke began to move and sit up. The atmosphere, instead of its usual sterile taste, was wonderfully warm and snug. He found it easy to slot himself right in. Even with the faint smell of a dinner having been made and having gone cold, it was peaceful and inviting enough that he could have conked out right then and there._

" _You're bleeding on the carpet," she noted offhandedly. And then, when she realized his eyes were fluttering closed, her volume bolstered into an exclamation. "Hey! Don't fall asleep!"_

"I used to be an eligible bachelor. Now my place is overrun with children."

"You're too young for ANBU."

"Well, after the Chuunin exams are completed, hopefully we'll both be promoted."

" _If_ they all pass. If not, hey, maybe next time they'll be _sent to Yama_ to take their exams!"

"Oh hush, you. I went with _Mamushi_ and _Bantam_."

" _I'm Kuro and I go on missions with ANBU operatives. I'm so cool,"_ she teased, making her voice a ridiculously dopey caricature of his. "You aren't ANBU yet."

"You aren't jounin yet," he argued. "You act like one. It'll suit you well."

"ANBU will suit me. Kage will suit me. You're better as a sensei."

"Y'know, that's not really the compliment you make out to be. Plus, I'm a shit sensei and you know it."

"No, you're not," she shrugged facially. "But they sure as hell dog you like ANBU. Or do you know any other jounin they periodically send on classified, super S-ranked missions while he still has a team to look after?"

"Kakashi?"

"Got me there. But Kaka-sensei _was_ ANBU before."

"Well, it's not like you guys really need me. They're hardly _my_ team anymore. They're practically _yours_. Hokage-sama knows you can handle and train genin while he sends me on these missions. It's an honor, really."

She rolled her eyes. "I _guess."_

* * *

 **The second exam is next and there will be much more action!**


	4. The Second Exam, Part I

**The Second Exam begins and so does all the action and canon-typical violence. Team 13 comes prepared to face opponents both familiar and not. Will it be enough against the powerful Aisugan and the genin from all these new villages popping out of the woodwork (literally)? I make up facts about Battle Training Zones, the Kodomo are notorious jerks, and Gaara is scary as usual. Something is wrong with Team 7 but Team 13 has their own shit to worry about.**

* * *

Chapter Four: The Second Exam, Part I

Kimi was calmly posted up for Ayumu and Daisuke to take turns signing their consent forms on her back, keeping herself busy by staring over at Sakura and Ino squabbling not too far away. "I'm glad we're not like that, Ayumu-sempai," she commented offhandedly.

Ayumu wasn't sparing the girls much attention at all. She was looking at the main entrance to the 44th Battle Training Zone – the so called "Forest of Death". Unlike most battle zones, the string of chained-up gates was immediately choked by woods. The threshold conceived a strangely powerful drop off in sunlight, casted shadows at the tree line seeming more like plates of black glass than anything natural. Kimi couldn't guess what thoughts ransacked Ayumu's head as she studied the setting to their second exam and mulled over last evening's last brainstorming session.

"Sakura-chan and Ino-chan are annoying," she said at length. "They used to call me a little lesbian and Namida a flat-chested monster. We just stopped interacting with them after we left the academy. That's why getting out and being exposed to the bigger world around you is so important."

"Thank _kami_ for that _,_ " he huffed. "I had to pull Namicchi off Sakura-chan once, and she came up with a fistful of hair." He fell horribly short from suppressing his grin. Kimi thought Sakura must have overheard, because she shot them a withering glare. Kimi hadn't spent a long amount of time in the same class as the Rookie 9, and didn't know them all well, but sometimes the reputation proceeded the person.

Ayumu switched to staring at a Kusa kunoichi who she'd seen earlier, squinting suspiciously as Daisuke gave Kimi a turn to sign her form on his back. She slapped the paper down and began to viciously scribble her signature on the dotted line like it was payback for making her team bitch or something. "Did you even read that through?" Daisuke asked incredulously.

With bravado, she declared, "There are no consent forms in life!"

Ayumu chuckled, took their paperwork to go exchange for the scroll, and returned with the Heaven one. Whatever troubles Ayumu contemplated, she wasn't going to ruin the jovial mood by voicing them. Everything that needed to be discussed was already discussed, and the group had come up with a pretty solid plan of action.

"Listen up! All the teams have received their scrolls," Anko announced. "Everyone is to go to your gate and wait there. When the gates open, the test is on!"

* * *

The training grounds of Konoha combined into an immense system that took up too much wildly mileage to ever properly manage. That was why it gave the impression of a far more lenient guard than, say, sneaking anywhere one wasn't supposed to be in Yama. One's ability to access any given Konoha training ground largely depended on their rank, but Team 13 didn't follow rules lightly. The zones were divided from ones for academy students, in the early tens, to ones for ANBU and Root, in the seventies and eighties.

Team 13 spent _most_ of their time in the twenties as most genin did. They were all fairly basic cookie cutters of each other – some stands of trees, some obstacle courses, and a lot of empty fields with aiming equipment such as targets, posts, and sacks tied up by ropes and wires. It was not like the place where Itachi and Namida had trained, which had been some private woods not far from the old Uchiha complex. None of these were strictly "battle zones".

Battle zones were reserved for training grounds dedicated to simulations, and only really open to chuunin and above. Higher ranks had these as well as normal training grounds. At the chuunin rank, one would be welcomed into zones of more interesting and intense geography. Namida had loved getting access to those areas. They came with hills and plateau, rivers and waterfalls. Battle zones were extremer for sparring and combat purposes. One could train privately and in small groups, or they could sign up for larger events – war and mission mockups and battle royals. Occasionally, such events were also organized for fun, such as capture the flag, king of the hill, or paint ball (with a plethora of weapons converted to color-releasing agents, ranging from smoke bombs to exploding tags).

Jounin-level training fields hosted these trials also, though not as often. Given the disproportional chuunin-to-jounin ratio, they could only work on a much smaller scale unless they included chuunin. More often than not, they did. For example, there was a fairly popular battle collaboration usually held in the 45th Battle Training Zone known as the Tournament of Blood – and weren't Konoha nin a bit theatrical with their nicknames? When genin were also invited to participate in such events, it was a rarer occurrence and usually saved for a type of field day or picnic, which may or may not also involve academy students. Those were more communal and festive.

The jounin training fields had all the diversity of the chuunin-level ones, but they were well known for the few that had dry, arid deserts and cliffs. It was useful for exercising one's survival skills, considering the traps programmed into the fields (as opposed to the natural dangers of the Forest of Death). It was good practice for trips to the Land of Wind's wastelands. Missions sent to aid and partner with the Sand Village or sent through their territory as a journey's leg had only increased in recent years since Suna had been pulling ahead in Konoha's pool of strong allies.

Kuro would sneak Namida into the zones exclusive to jounin, which mainly consisted of districts forty-six to fifty-eight. What started out as training and early preparation for her testing, at least a year and half in the making, had grown to include hiking and camping. Some of the grounds were so large, they could trek a whole day out into the elevated forests and make camp at night, perfectly in the middle of nowhere and far from the outside world.

Kuro, in turn, was often snuck into fields specifically for ANBU operatives by Kakashi, who still somehow had access. They could guess that the permanent tattoo and the unyielding respect Kakashi had accumulated helped. Frequently, the squad leaders would get together to train, and they had access to a large number of zones for that purpose. But if the battle-hardened adults felt like sneaking into the ANBU grounds for kicks and giggles, it was usually for a late-night excursion to a wooden, lake-side alcove of the 67th Zone (the "Widower's Valleys") to get drunk and have a good time.

The Forest of Death was one of the largest and most dangerous, hence its moniker. There was a surplus of rare and even dangerous flora, and all manner of predatory and wild fauna – the leaches, tigers, and bears. It was said to be home to hordes of monstrous, venomous, and gargantuan creatures.

"As expected," Daisuke muttered as they skimmed the canopy. It was more precarious up there, with skinnier branches and weaker perches, then down in the understory where there would surely be more congestion. That only meant limiting their pace and Team 13 were not concerned with speed so early on as long as they obtained the stronger vantage point. "The beginning's always a fuckin' train wreck."

Team 13 could see for themselves how dense the terrain was, so much so that one could be forgiven for assuming it had abruptly changed from day to night. It reeked of damp wood and blood. The forest was a confused tangle of brown and green shades around them and a long drop into darkness below. Even at such an altitude so close to the actual sun, the thinning chutes of light never survived far before being smacked or assimilated by billowingly large blankets of encompassing shadows.

"Well, everyone's in such close proximity," Kimi agreed, trying to hide her tension. Daisuke and Ayumu didn't seem bothered, as the team of three hopped from tree to tree. It was true that Kuro had snuck them in a few times to let them try it out. That practice had been made more difficult when news of Konoha hosting the exam first broke out. It was accompanied by the usual growing concerns of other villages over home-team advantage – made only weightier with Yama's presence – and came to a head in a panic over _cheating_. Of all things. Like Team 13 would _cheat._

Considering the monsters the other villages had up their sleeves, Kimi hardly felt bad. It was a funny thought, when she reminisced what she had been like only a few short years ago upon initially graduating from the academy. So pure and righteous and _naïve_.

Even with that heads-up, she still found the area unfamiliarly strange and menacing. There were so many moving parts – roaming, sentient wildlife and humidity-cresting breezes – that could explain away every rustle of leaves and snap of a twig. But the problem was that even the most organic of sounds could easily be considered signs of an oncoming assault, and to block them out would be a fool's last move. It was this constantly vigilant guard that had Kimi so strung out and pinched with nerves. There was so much cover provided that, as much as it sheltered them, it hindered them.

It must have been an easy choice for those who decided this would be their arena of contest. Immediate natural obstacles, as opposed to an open field where the teams would meet for the first time on equal ground, made the 44th Battle Training Zone a playground for the bloodthirsty and the sly. There was little fairness in real life and none for a squad leader, such as chuunin, taking their _kohai_ out on missions.

"This is the time that most teams are attacked," Ayumu said. "We should slow our pace and hang back."

No sooner had she said that did a kunai whistle through the air, and Ayumu abruptly cut to a full stop and ducked under it. It pinned into the branch before her, and she looked toward the direction from which it came. Some overzealous Taki nin had decided to attack like that? She could seem them morphing out of the trees behind them, giving away their position. It could only lend proof to the manic fervor instigated by commencement's adrenaline, and Ayumu was not impressed by sloppiness. She grabbed the weapon by its hooped end, twisted it free, and pivoted to her four o'clock. Above her shoulders, Daisuke and Kimi waited on alert, but as soon as Ayumu had grabbed the kunai, it triggered a wire.

Four consecutively activated exploding tags later, the Taki genin scanned the area for Team 13. "Where are they…?" Looking from one branch to the next, the one who spoke could see no bodies knotted in the trees – nothing but three red, matted splashes on the trunks and leaves.

"All that blood… they must have been incinerated!"

"As if something like that could have _dissolved bodies,_ _baka,_ " the third one hissed.

The first one's eyes suddenly widened. The smoke was gone. The blood was gone. He was turning back toward the epicenter of the detonation when he found Ayumu on the tree branch right in front of him. Her genjutsu was dispelled when her hands parted – bird sign released, arms crossed, and weight exchanged from one hip to the other. Kimi, leaning over to be seen from behind her, raised her fists and smiled. Four crumpled up papers fell from her uncurling fingers.

"Let's make this quick," Ayumu spoke innocently. "What scroll do you got?"

They were attacked once more after that before the initial hysteria died down. Both teams were taken care of but, frustratingly, _neither_ had an earth scroll. Team 13 had let the first one go and told them to scram. Still acting tough, it _was_ out of the Taki's mutual desire for conserving time instead of wasting it that they took off without further incident. The second one was more annoying, and Team 13 could dispatch of them quick enough to make stealing their scroll a worthwhile endeavor – less competition if the others couldn't scramble to find not _one_ but _two_ scrolls quickly enough within the ticking time period.

Into the next day, they scouted or encountered a few more teams with heaven scrolls identical to their own, not counting the ones they were attacked by but who had fled when they discovered Team 13 was a bit out of their league. It was a rare blessing, but Team 13 hadn't had the chance to check their scrolls if they decided to pursue and lost them. It was improbable, how little luck they had.

Only once in that interval did they find an earth scroll, and it belonged to the Sand Siblings. Namida and Kuro had, on separate occasions, warned them against engaging. Kuro had been vague, but Namida straight up told them about how the boy had a demon sealed inside him. She didn't know for certain if he was a homicidal as he appeared, but he was not someone even she would willingly mess with. Namida turning down a fight was not something the genin took lightly, but Team 13 still took the opportunity to do some mild stalking. They were easily discouraged after witnessing Gaara of the Desert absolutely _murder_ the next team that came along and took the initiative to attack.

It was later that day they finally found another team with an earth scroll. More precisely, _they were found._

Team 13 was travelling at their usual pace when Ayumu motioned for them to stop. There were different variants – ones where they immediately seized up and waited with baited breath, and ones where they broke off into different formations. For this instance, use to the drill, they hit the ground like they were about to make camp. In the middle of the day. Natural. They could have been taking a break, Kimi supposed.

Daisuke went underground with a Headhunter jutsu, and Ayumu flitted back up into the trees. Not exactly playing long into the ploy, the sudden movement in different direction was designed to confuse anyone who might have had visual on them, and one of the reasons Ayumu came down with them only to go back up instead of just staying in high ground. They left a very irate Kimi behind as bait.

The new competition almost immediately confronted her and were just as quickly _dispelled_ in wet splashes when Daisuke attacked from below. Water clones. Daisuke cursed when a pale hand ruptured the surface of packed dirt beneath him and grabbed his ankle. In that moment, he realized his underground track had been followed and, in the future, he had better stop being lazy and seal the damn earth back up after him.

Daisuke hadn't expected to see the crescent-shaped symbol on the headband glaring up at him. It caught the light from a surprisingly deep-reaching shaft of sunlight, mocking him. He hadn't expected to see a Yama nin with an earth style jutsu, either. The boy suddenly let go and he slumped forward, still rooted in the soil. Daisuke could imagine, by the way he twitched and muttered, that Ayumu got him with a genjutsu.

Daisuke was just peeling his feet out of the thicket he was almost dragged into – and sinking a few strong inches more when some weakly supported soil collapsed in a bit of aftershock from the guy's aborted assault – when Ayumu was pitched to the ground by an attack he hadn't seen. Daisuke pounced free and started reeling back when her attacker followed and stopped beside his teammate. "Tsk, that wasn't pretty rude."

Ayumu got back up and frowned, getting her first good look. She recognized the Aisugan before she recognized the boy. But she belatedly recalled his name – Kodomo Kenshin, one of Namida's many cousins. Ayumu wiped some dirt off her cheek, smudging it more than clearing it. "You're saying such things in a place like this?"

Daisuke even vaguely recognized the half-conscious boy from early academy days – Goro. Remembering who was who and from which clan came like second nature after so many formative years spent being taught to identify the charitable and pious families from heathen ones, and the fair families from deadly ones.

All those were old and powerful clans that Daisuke's parents thought any self-respecting heir should know, and he could not immediately recognize the one to which their female teammate belonged. She appeared with a flash of hand signs. The jutsu caused purple-hued crystals to grow, shard by snappishly unfolding shard, at Kimi's feet and pin her. She pulled out a kunai and aimed it at Kimi, the hand holding it poised and prepared in an area above her opposite shoulder.

"Make one more move, and I throw this pointy object in between the kid's eyes… That a more suitable thing to say for a place like this?"

"Whoa there," Daisuke called. "… Relax."

Kenshin juggled Goro's shoulder with his foot, frowning. "Such a silly mistake, Goro-kun, and from such a weak ploy at that," he chided. Kenshin turned back to them and held out his hand. "I'm not like that idiot, so I'll make this easier on you guys. Give me your scroll," he demanded.

"Y'know, I thought Namida-chan was an asshole, but I guess it runs in the family."

Daisuke threw a barrage of sebon, which gave the appearance of greater numbers thanks to a genjutsu of Ayumu's. They hit the female's hand and forearm with precision and threw off her cast, allowing Kimi the leeway to dodge her projectile. After a few sharp hand signs and taking a knee, Daisuke folded his hands and smashed them into the ground. The combination of Earth and Lightning chakra skimmed the soil until it hit the ground beneath the girl's feet. The sharp electricity shot up her legs and one particularly powerful lick spun into her stomach, forcing her off her feet and high up into the understory.

While Ayumu took the distraction and threw a kunai at Kenshin, Daisuke flicked up to chase the enemy down with a follow-up attack. Again, Ayumu's genjutsu made the weapons seem to multiply. While the hidden kunai had been dodged swiftly enough to avoid any real damage, it left a cut and a trail of blood running down Kenshin's cheek. He glared at Ayumu, his blue eyes glowing. The water of nearby puddles from an earlier rain, the main reason they were all so dirty, began to rise.

* * *

Ayumu slammed into the ground, rolled a few times, and skidded to a stop beside Daisuke with a huff. The field and ground layers, soft and soaked, were easily split into a disastrous state of ribbons. They had made a mess of their surrounding area and if any squads happened across them, they would have surely either kept running or laid in wait to see if the victor came out scathed enough to make easy pickings.

Entire trees had been toppled over and uprooted in the bedlam once Daisuke tapped into more Earth jutsu for various shields and weapons to counteract the team's excellence over ice and water chakra, as proficient with those as Suna nin were with wind release and Konoha nin were with fire. Daisuke's ninjutsu expertise laying in his jack-of-all-trades style, it gave them an edge in that they were prepared against any variety of techniques their enemy could have in their arsenal. It was a decent guard against the unpredictable, but the Yama nin held a predictable advantage over those specific elements.

"He's only a rookie but he's fast. Nami-chan would be the only one to match him in speed." Ayumu always missed their taijutsu expert and, in times like these, the feeling was only intensified. "Not a fair match for Kimi-chan."

Even Kimi, objectively their quickest – who had ripped off and crumpled up four exploding tags in the time it took Ayumu to blink twice when she almost pulled the wired kunai of the Taki nin earlier – had lost a lot of blood due to a surprise attack by Goro once he came to. She had been largely thrown out of the way by her teammates to avoid exasperating her wounded abdomen. Daisuke had tried healing, but there was simply not enough time between dodging without forfeiting all the defensive responsibility unfairly to Ayumu.

"We can't beat the Aisugan by ourselves," Ayumu grumbled under her breath.

Daisuke didn't seem bothered. Catching his winded breath and having been laid out flat two seconds proceeding Ayumu, he looked more like he was ready to sunbathe or take a snooze with his crossed ankles and folded hands over his sternum. "I think it's a good group thinking exercise. If we could beat the ever-living shit out of Nami-chan, how would we accomplish that?"

Like lightning, Daisuke kipped up to block Kenshin's oncoming punch with his forearms. As it wasn't the most graceful maneuver, it hurt. It also drove Daisuke back, digging toes scraping the surface of the ground in his momentary struggle to root himself. Kenshin tailed him with fleeting footwork and flying kicks. After two consecutive kicks had Daisuke nearly doubling over, he managed to regain his bearings quickly enough to avoid Kenshin's following swings. Unfortunately, after that he was felled by an ice patch, of all things. Daisuke's knees hit the impromptu and slippery rink and he slid further back, faintly turning as he failed in his bid to immediately stand back up.

"God damn it…!"

Kenshin was on him again, a heel-kick from above shattering the ice where Daisuke's head would have been had he not tried, again, to throw himself up to his feet.

Despite the weak follow-through, his statement filled Ayumu with a pleasing thrum of determination. She raced over, picking up an abandoned kunai from the floor on her way, and intercepted Kenshin. With far more poise than Daisuke, the ice didn't bother her standing in the slightest. If anything, it made her movements more fluid and elegant than the clumsier genin could have managed on dry land, lacking as she was in the taijutsu department. She managed to fare against his next few attacks and exchange blows, holding her own better than Daisuke had been. Kenshin finally got her with a strong forward kick off the ice, which shattered at once. The fractals began to collapse in on themselves and form a kaleidoscope bulge. It thinned as it snaked its way up Kenshin's spine. He advanced on Ayumu and Fumi, like a spider, dropped down on Daisuke.

Kimi came back to, world tilted and blurry. But she saw Kenshin approaching her teammate farther in their gutted clearing and latched onto his image. She made to stand once again. Kenshin eyed Daisuke, who landed a meter away with an aggressive Fumi at his heels, before turning to Ayumu. "You were the servant girl of Namida-chan," he recalled, his serpentine ice pointing toward her head. He chuckled. "A servant playing dress up. What a dream you must have been living. Well, consider me your wake-up call."

"I consider you a _prick._ "

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her up until she had to use her tired arms on which to lean, weight on her uninjured hip and legs folded underneath her. "You think _you_ could be a kunoichi. You think _she,_ sickly waif that she is, _could be a kunoichi?_ "

"Don't fucking touch her!" Daisuke screamed, overtaken by a snap of protective, knee-jerk anger. Fumi kicked him roughly in the gut. He went to grab her ankle, but a few sudden shuriken from above reminded him that Goro still prowled somewhere up in the trees.

"I haven't seen my cousin in nearly five years, now. Tell me, has she gotten the Aisugan yet?"

Ayumu twisted to spit on the ground at his feet. He threw her back. Daisuke got back up and even accomplished shoving Fumi away with unruly force, but his feet were suddenly frozen to the ground with ice and he nearly toppled over. Kenshin stomped on Ayumu's chest to put an end to her struggling, then dropped down to sit on her. With sudden and insincere patience, he reached down to touch her cheek. When Ayumu's hands rose in protest – to swat him away and form hand seals – he grabbed them and held them down, interlocking fingers and digging her knuckles into the dirt. When he let go, both her hands were pinned by ice above her head, growing by the opal fragment.

"Maybe we could meet in a real situation sometime," Kenshin sneered. "You should bring Namida-chan, then. I'm sure Junichi-sensei would love to see her."

"…Sensei?" They turned to see Kimi standing quietly behind them, not looking particularly threatening. Her feet were barely shoulder-width apart, legs like a bird's. She was shaking and holding her stomach as blood continued to seep through her shirt and fingers.

Daisuke looked back from her haunting visage to Kenshin, horrified. "Junichi is jounin?" He hadn't been wearing the standard jounin outfit the day of the first exam, when Team 13 encountered Team 19…

Kenshin laughed. "He'll be ready to be our Koorikage soon enough."

"Namida will be our next leader. Once Jomei is dead." It was not often Kimi heard that name brought up but, when it was, (particularly with Daisuke) it was with untold amounts of malice.

"What a disrespectful way to talk." Fumi, hands on her hips, kicked his head.

"Bitch!"

"What a shame. A Nakamura beat by a girl," she cooed, shaking her head. "What would Hiei-san say if he could see you now? What would your father say? _Kami_ rest their sweet souls."

"Fuck you! I'm nowhere near finished!"

"Maybe we should just kill you now, then?" Kenshin asked, his ice tail curling around Ayumu's neck.

"Don't – !"

"Daisuke-kun…"

Goro had a kunai to Kimi's throat, Daisuke could see when he looked over, prompted but dreaded by the scared note of her voice. "Let… Let her go!"

"Ask nicely," Fumi giggled.

"Please! Don't hurt them, please!" Kenshin's tail squeezed Ayumu's neck, becoming waterier but no less mighty, as if Daisuke's begging was what egged him on. Ayumu lifted her chin, breathing heavy but brave-faced and growing whiter by the second.

"We're not supposed to use unnecessary deadly force," Ayumu reasoned. She sounded choked, and rightfully so.

"Who would care if you died? Anyone important? Who could stop me?" She felt his hot breath against her cheeks.

There was a standing beat.

Suddenly, the coil and the ice immobilizing Ayumu's hands began to melt in earnest. The process, which actually didn't take much time at all, seemed elongated with how she slowly smirked up at him and tauntingly wiggled her rapidly freed fingers, and by how Kenshin's disbelief seemed to stall his reaction. "…What?"

It didn't stop there. All the ice began to melt, and then all the water began to evaporate. The others looked fine, but Kenshin could feel it begin to dry his very flesh. His skin wrinkled, and he reached up to touch his face, shocked and confused. He pulled his hand away and inspected the way it withered, then became ash scattered to the wind.

The genjutsu was released when Ayumu separated her hands. They had never been frozen in place to begin with, but instead revealed themselves to be folded into a neat sign between their chests. And she had only broken the seal in order to ram her palm up into his jaw. Kenshin's teeth smashed together, and he violently bit his tongue. She ran her skull into his and he reeled back.

When Kenshin touched her cheek, and Ayumu's hands rose in protest, to swat him away… That must have been when she cast her genjutsu…

Kimi jerked an arm away from Goro in a wild fit, rotated as she grabbed his wrist, and tossed him over her shoulder. He bounced back and swung the kunai toward her face. In a split-second decision, she grabbed the old, worn demon shuriken off her back. It unfolded as she hefted it up over her shoulder and slashed it down on Goro's. At the same time, a fire pellet from Daisuke hit Goro's back, only spurring him into her.

Daisuke used another pellet to free one leg from the ice just in time to surprise-kick an attacking Fumi in her center. He comically almost fell over when he couldn't pivot properly on his still-trapped standing leg, but quickly freed himself with two more pellets by the time she threw herself at him again. With a double palm strike, proper stance, and an exertion of chakra, Fumi was sent flying back.

He grinned and turned back to his teammates. Ayumu had Kenshin in another genjutsu that seemed to be short-circuiting his nervous system and breaking up his mind's ability to connect with his body. It proved no match for even Ayumu's subpar taijutsu. It would not take him long to realize it was another genjutsu, even as Ayumu toyed with her new-found advantage, so they had to take the opportunity to escape…

Daisuke looked over at Kimi. She was staring at the demon shuriken she held, lodged deep in the collarbone of Goro. There was a lot of blood on his part, a keen look of horror on Kimi's, and what might have been the early stages of shock for the both of them.

"…Oh _shit."_

* * *

Before they left, Daisuke returned to a nearly incapacitated Kenshin, who was rapidly coming to. He patted down his person momentarily before coming up with an earth scroll. "Of course, someone like Kenshin wouldn't trust his teammates to hold it." Daisuke then grabbed Kenshin's necklace and yanked it off, easily snapping the chain. He held it up for Ayumu to inspect the crystal, Kodomo-crest pedant. "A present for Nami-chan, or a trophy for us?" Ayumu, a shaken Kimi glued responsibly to her side, managed to smile.

Ayumu had quite the comprehensive understanding of Namida's weak points –take away water and take away body. The latter had not completely immobilized Kenshin, but his taijutsu ability had been severely disabled, muscles jerking sporadically and feeding his fear and confusion. The timing she used could not have been been more appropriate either – the first while Kenshin was monologuing and distracted by the celebration of a key winning point. Namida would argue that she didn't _monologue,_ but she couldn't deny that she _did_ spend a disproportional amount of time _talking_ and she _was_ prone to becoming overconfident when she had the upper hand _._ The second would not have worked so well had it been Namida instead of Kenshin. Kenshin, like many others, was susceptible to another genjutsu more quickly following the effects of succumbing to a first. Namida was nothing if not more alert following an attack, unless it was particularly debilitating.

They covered a lot of ground before Ayumu decided it was a safe enough distance and location to rest. She had not wanted to push them so far and for so long with an injured party, but such precautions were necessary with the probability of an enraged Kodomo on their tails. Hopefully, Kenshin and Fumi would be too worried over Goro's wellbeing to give chase, and that gave Team 13 the time they needed to lick their own wounds.

"Wow," Ayumu breathed, breaking the morose silence like a spell. "That could have gone… better. At least we got an earth scroll out of it?"

Kimi looked up from her bloody hands, slack-eyed. Daisuke turned to the younger girl with the utmost seriousness. "Kimi-chan, they gave us no choice," he told her. "You did well."

Ayumu stood up. "I'll scout," she intoned. "See to Kimi-chans's wounds, Medic-san."

Ayumu left them to their devices and Daisuke maneuvered the drenched and tattered hem of Kimi's shirt for better vision, doing his own scouting for a balance between dragging it over the half-clotted pool and peeling skin by rolling it up. He carefully explained what he was doing at each step until his hands began to glow over her stomach and apply the pressure they had only been able to haphazardly supply before with the slapstick binding of available gauze, something which also took some time and effort to safely unravel.

"You know fire jutsu," Kimi wheezed, poking at conversation.

"Don't talk," he muttered in concentration, brow knotted and beading one droplet of sweat after another.

"Namida-senpai taught you, didn't she? She knows a bunch of fire jutsu... I've seen her cast Fireball and even Fire Dragon… In an effort to spite the Kodomo?" She winced and tried to readjust her position, but Daisuke held her down firmly.

"Stay still!" He sighed before he gave in. Better to parley, engage and distract her, than to allow her to squirm disruptively. "I have a very large array of ninjutsu. I _am_ our expert, after all," he explained. "But Namida has helped me with fire. It is a finicky element, something I particularly had trouble mastering. It's not her natural affinity, either, but you'd be surprised at what she can accomplish out of sheer stubbornness."

"I used her old demon shuriken when I struck him," she muttered. Daisuke's attention returned briefly to the weapon. Instead of its usual spot on Kimi's back, he had held onto it while he and Ayumu supported her relocation. It laid farther up the branch, nearly forgotten and largely abandoned. It was caked with what was, by now, dried blood. Certain areas Namida had taped were beginning to look a little frayed. Daisuke had been able to run his thumb across the old scratches from years ago as they traveled, recalling how almost each one had been put there. He was sure Namida would be able to do so with much more accuracy. Demon shuriken were expensive, after all, and Namida had cherished the weapon religiously and sharpened it daily once she received it as a present herself. She maintained that gifted weapons were special and powerful in their own right. "The one she gave me… I… I killed him. Am I gonna be in trouble?"

"You didn't kill him," he bickered. "It wasn't _that_ bad. Besides, he gave you no choice," he repeated. "I mean, look at what he did to you? Bet he wouldn't have felt half as bad. Sick bastards seemed to enjoy it way too much, if you ask me. And you won't get into trouble. This hell has no rules."

* * *

" _Is a six-hour sleep schedule realistic for you guys?" Namida had asked, by way of initiating their planning session over tea the night before the second exam began._

" _Each shift switched off on the two-hour mark and each person getting a turn," Ayumu mused. "With twenty-hours each day to move, that's a huge window to make it to the finish line and account for not only skirmishes and the extraction of the other scroll but also any unforeseen disadvantages thrown our way. It's ideal." Being shinobi, four hours a night was doable for a five-day period of time. "And it won't even be that bad with soldier pills, no?"_

 _There were certain rations chuunin and above were able to procure from Konoha's medical nin and they were free to dish them out to their underlings, though decorum dictated it was used for more extreme circumstances. They were not impossible for genin to acquire if they knew where to look, or for higher ranks to attain more than their apportioned allotment out of pocket. Namida, like an addict, had a stash. Soldier pills were not as addictive as one might assume, but she did like to be prepared. And the occasional "recreation" use, if one could call it that, was saved for when she really got into a training session and wanted to stretch it out, or on solo missions she wanted to finish quickly. It wasn't the best for her health, but they guessed the results spoke for themselves on how well Namida had found a balance between self-destruction and success… for now. Namida was a ticking time bomb in that respect._

" _Could you do it without soldier pills?"_

" _But we have soldier pills?"_

" _Humor me. It's good to measure in those terms and know what you're capable of. Of course, you will have soldier pills, but anything can happen."_

 _Ayumu nodded and thought it over briefly, eyes flicking from Daisuke to Kimi and back again._ "Aa, _I'm pretty sure we could."_

" _Good, you don't want to mistime yourselves. And you can always reevaluate daily and adjust accordingly. Always give the injured more time to sleep. Even if you must play it safe, if one must guard the incapacitated while the other scouts – very carefully – to make up for lost time. Scouting can be your best hope."_

" _What if both teammates are incapacitated, Namida-sempai?" Kimi asked._

 _Namida rubbed her face and turned to Kuro. "Wanna cover that one, boss?"_

 _Kuro sighed. "I'm sure you already have a basic rundown, Kimi-chan, but there are several things to be aware of in a situation like that. Never position yourself_ anywhere near _the open…"_

* * *

Sakura's hair, freshly hacked, fell to the ground in heaps. The last of the wayward strands hadn't even come to a fluttering halt before she was on the spurned, livened attack against the enemy Oto nin. Sasuke and Naruto were still unconscious after their fight with Orochimaru. Poor Rock Lee had saved them and now lay knocked out, his ears bleeding from the sound attack.

Things took a brighter turn with the assistance of Team 10, but they were still novices and these opponents were more experienced. Their jutsu failed them, one by one, and eventually the Oto nin were so sure of their victory that they revealed the real reason they partook in the exams – they weren't there for the scrolls or the promotions. They were there for Sasuke, and that filled Sakura with dread.

Something felt off. Chakra laced the air – dark, malignant, violet. It radiated off Sasuke, sporting a facially pinched look like a nightmare and tense with pain.

Zaku was intent on sacrificing his female teammate in an attack meant to take out Ino, because she had Kin in a jutsu that required the blonde to put her own life on the line should anything harm the victim. He shot out a spiral of pressurize air toward Kin, but when it hit her, she vanished. It was not with the resounding smoke of a clone being popped. The dissolve of her body made Zaku quickly catch on and form a ram seal. "Kai!"

The genjutsu dispelled and a brunette was attacking him with a kunai. He just barely managed to dodge her and she fell back to her blue haired teammate, who had tackled Kin to the ground to avoid Zaku's ninjutsu. He looked up, head previously ducked and clearly expecting the worst, and glared at the Konoha nin. "Can you guys not take care of yourselves for five days?" The redhead beside him still held a complicated hand sign before she decided it had run its course and let go. Kimi took her place beside her, gauze peeking out from under her ragged shirt.

"How long have you guys been here?" Shikamaru asked, glancing back toward Team 13.

"Long enough."

"We would've intervened sooner," Daisuke added, "but _shakushijōgi_ -san over there wouldn't let me."

"Oi," Ayumu called indignantly, "we had to survey the scene first, _baka!"_

Kimi gave a small smile. "And this is much more dramatic, no?"

Daisuke narrowed his eyes. "You've been spending too much time with Nami-chan, if you think that way."

That was when Neji and Ten-Ten showed up in the tree line behind Team 13, enraged at the sight of their fallen comrade. Clearly, both senior genin squads were holding back at the natural barrier.

"Well, are you going to stay up there all day? Or are you going to come down here and do something about it?" Dosu asked. He might not have thought much of a bunch of Konoha rookies, but the numbers were quickly stacking against their favor, and his nervousness showed in agitation.

"Actually," Neji called smugly, "it looks like it might have been taken out of my hands."

* * *

 **Next time: The Second Exam comes to a close, Namida makes an impromptu appearance, and a certain _someone_ gets to be engaged in combat! **

**Reviews are appreciated!**


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